As principal, Pittman made difference in countless lives

A few weeks ago a great man, educator, teacher, promoter of goodwill, and a dear friend died without mention.

His name is Joe Pitman, a longtime principal of Indian River County schools and a former weightlifting Olympian.

I met him in 1959 at Wabasso Elementary School when I was a student there. He was our new principal.

You must understand that we kids were kind of country. We came to school in blue jeans, t-shirts and were often barefoot. We liked recess, but we always did what the teachers said.

From the start, everyone liked Mr. Pitman and there was never a negative thing to come from his mouth. We only heard things like, “You can,” “Don’t quit,” “Try again; you will get better.”

As I grew through elementary school, I knew as well as my other classmates that we could make something of ourselves because of Mr. Pitman’s positive attitude. Everyone I knew from Wabasso Elementary left with that same attitude.

As time went on, when I saw him it was always the same: “Nice to see you.” “Keep up the good work.” “You’re doing a great job,” etc.

I even received letters from him long into my adulthood commending me for being a great role model. He really made one feel proud.

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